Pokémon Scent-Sation Alternate Version
by Wildstar93
Summary: What if someone caught wind of how Erika threw Ash out of her gym just because he doesn't like perfume? Who is that someone, and can he set the gym straight?


**Warrior Cat Cody: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to my newest FanFiction story! It's a Pokémon story, and it'll have a slight alternate plot from one of my least favorite episodes in the Indigo League series.**

 **In this episode, Ash and his friends are in Celadon City, where Ash can get one of his badges (why he had to fight Sabrina first is beyond me). There, they go to a perfume shop, where Ash doesn't like perfume and says bad things about it. Granted, he's a jerk about it, but the shopkeepers' reaction was worse. To top it off, the head shopkeeper there is Erika, the Celadon City gym leader, and she bans him from challenging her gym just because he didn't like the perfume. To many other people (including me), that was wildly unprofessional of a gym leader to do, and that could get them fired.**

 **You all know what episode it is now? If so, then that's good, and you can have a big virtual Oreo cookie. If not, I'll tell you at the end. Now sit back and watch the fireworks.**

 **Disclaimer:** **Pokémon does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Satoshi Tajiri.**

 **Publishing Date: August 11, 2015**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...**

 _ **Celadon Gym Problems**_

An hour had passed ever since Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town had been kicked out of the Celadon Gym. Of course he hated perfume. It had a really strong smell, and he hated really strong smells. But he never expected the gym leader to be the owner of the perfume store, and he also did not expect her to throw him out because he had bad-mouthed her perfume. He didn't like perfume at all, but they didn't have to throw him out!

What was even more unbelievable was how his friends, Misty and Brock, and even _Pikachu_ got mad at him for it. They had stood by and watched while he was forcibly thrown out of the perfume shop and the gym altogether. Ash couldn't help but feel betrayed; they had been friends for only a few months, yet perfume had led them to split up. _Was it wrong to have a different opinion from your friends?_ he wondered.

Now he was at the Pokémon Center, getting his remaining Pokémon checked up before leaving. He knew his remaining Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgeotto, and Primeape) were loyal to him, but how long would they last out there without friends? Ash decided that now would be a good time to just move ahead to Fuchsia City; there could be a gym there, one that was less judgmental about what they liked.

"What's wrong, kid?"

Ash looked up, startled as he walked by the fountain. A man with a black suit and flaming red hair that stuck out behind him was sitting on a bench not too far away. Sitting next to him was a Dragonite, happily munching on a sandwich as it watched Ash come by.

"N-Nothing's wrong!" Ash stuttered, trying to sound brave. "I was going to go rest up after my recent gym battle! I won!"

The man frowned. "Hmmm...it doesn't look like you won," he said with a suspicious look. "Usually, when someone wins, they look happy instead of acting like getting stung by a Beedrill swarm was nothing. Now tell me the _real_ reason."

Ash gave a sigh, knowing that this man could find out sooner than later; despite the man being a stranger, he felt he could trust him with this. Finally, he said, "You're right. I didn't win the gym battle; I didn't even get to challenge Erika!"

"Why not?" the man asked curiously as Dragonite finished its sandwich. "Did she have another person to battle against?"

"No," he said. "I got kicked out because I said bad stuff about perfume. Then she said I was forever banned from the gym."

The result was immediate. The man stood up so quickly that Ash jumped back in alarm. With the man's swishing black cape flowing in the wind, he looked briefly like a superhero of sorts.

"How dare she?!" he roared. "Doesn't she know that it's against Pokémon League rules to ban trainers from battling in her gym?! I thought Ramos from the Kalos region and Gardenia from Sinnoh taught her well! As for you," he said, turning to Ash, "we're heading back to the gym right away."

"But what about what Erika-" Ash tried to say.

The man cut him off, sharply saying, "Forget what Erika said! She should not kick someone out of her gym just because they don't like perfume! We're going to give them a piece of our minds!" Dragonite nudged him on the shoulder, making him say, "Dragonite, I'll get you another sandwich later. Come with me and...what's your name, kid?"

Ash looked up at the man. "Ash," he said. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"Right," the stranger said. "Since you look ready, let's go."

Dragonite looked down at his half-eaten sandwich and was pondering on whether to eat it some more or not. With a sigh, he threw it to the ground, where Pidgey flocked over and started picking up the scraps.

So Ash, the stranger, and the stranger's Dragonite headed past what looked like the game corner before heading into the trees surrounding the gym. Once they made it, they stopped before the perfume shop, and Ash saw Misty, Brock, and Pikachu there, all smiling at whatever Erika was telling them. He felt like he was betrayed; all because he didn't like what they liked, they seemed to have forgotten him like an old newspaper.

"Aren't those the Pewter City and Cerulean City gym leaders?" asked the man from the trees. "How come they're here?"

"They're journeying with me," Ash told him. "But they got onto me for not liking perfume, and they watched as I got kicked out."

The man held up a hand and asked, "Can I ask you something first? Why don't you really like perfume? Just asking."

Ash looked down. "I said it was for wussies, but that's to hide that I'm allergic to the perfume," he said sadly.

"That's not right. I admit you shouldn't have said that, but they shouldn't have thrown you out for saying that. It's your opinion; no one has the right to take it away," the man said. "We're going inside now, and make sure you go inside first, and I'll follow you shortly."

"Okay."

So the man and Dragonite stood back in the bushes while Ash went on ahead. The others were going back inside, and he waited until they were inside before following them.

"Tangela, intruders!"

Suddenly, Ash felt his arms getting wrapped by what appeared to be vines. On either side of him were what looked like two balls of vines with red feet. His Pokédex beeped once as it said, " _Tangela is the Vine_ _Pokémon. Its body is wrapped in vines. The rest of its body is hidden by these vines."_

"You!" Ash looked up from the Tangela and saw Erika standing before him, glaring at him. "Are you not the trainer I kicked out not too long ago? Did I not ask you to leave?"

Ash looked around at his friends, who were standing on the sidelines. Misty and Brock were glaring at him, but Pikachu was looking conflicted. He looked back at Erika and said, "Yeah, but-"

"Then why did you come back?" one of Erika's employees asked harshly. "You know what happens to customers who diss our perfume!"

"That's why I'm here," Ash said.

But apparently, he must have said it wrong. Misty spoke up, "We're waiting. Are you going to apologize?"

Ash looked around at her, irritated at the tone in her voice. "I'm getting to that!" he snapped. "I'm just waiting for someone!"

"And that someone will be me," a familiar voice said. "Dragonite, Flamethrower!"

Everyone looked around. The man had stormed through the doorway, Dragonite stomping through to launch a Flamethrower at the Tangela tying Ash up. The Tangela cried out before jumping to the side to avoid their vines being burned. As for the man himself, his infuriated mood seemed to change Erika and her employees from angry to shocked.

"Lance!" she gasped. "What're you doing here?!"

"That's Lance of the Elite Four, and one of their most powerful members," Brock was whispering to Misty. "He specializes in Dragon types!"

 _That's Lance?_ Ash thought in surprise. He had thought that this man was powerful, but never before had he ever expected to run into Lance himself. He recalled seeing a battle on TV before he started his journey, where a Dragonite was battling a Gengar. The owner of the Dragonite must have been Lance.

Said Dragon-type master looked away from them and said to Erika, "I heard that you banned someone from the gym recently. Is this true?"

Erika nodded before she got angry. "Yes, it's true," she said. "I banned him because he didn't like our perfume and said bad things about it."

"That's not a good reason," Lance growled. "Banning someone for such a petty reason is a trait unbecoming of a gym leader. He even told me that he said all the bad things about your perfume because he's allergic to it. Not only that, but your employees should be fired for trying to attack a visitor," he added with a glare towards the employees, who looked both angry and ashamed. Then he glanced around at Ash, asking, "Isn't there something you'd like to say to Erika, Ash?"

Ash nodded and looked around at Erika and the employees glaring at him. "Look...I still hate the perfume." One of the employees opened her mouth to yell at him again, but Erika silenced her with a look. Thus, Ash went on, "I still hate it, but I was saying that only because I was hiding being allergic. So I gotta put my pride aside and say that I'm sorry. I hope you don't hold it against me, and I won't insult the perfume ever again."

Erika looked over at her employees, who still looked like they were going to continue defending their perfume. Finally, she said, "I accept your apology, Ash."

"I'm glad that's over," Brock spoke up. He was looking remorseful as he looked around at Ash. "I didn't know you were allergic to perfume. Sorry I didn't see that, buddy. With a lot of siblings, I should've known that."

Misty was less sympathetic as she added crossly, "Don't feel too sorry for Ash, Brock. Ash needed to learn his lesson! Anyone who doesn't have anything nice to say shouldn't say anything-"

"Not so quick, you two," Lance suddenly snapped, rounding on the gym leaders. "You have no room to talk, and you needed to learn a lesson too. As gym leaders, you should have known that all gym leaders must accept challengers except during an emergency. If a gym leader cannot, then it needs to be for a good reason." He took a step forward the younger gym leaders and growled, "Not only that, but what kind of friends are you two anyway? No respectable friends would stand by and let someone kick their friend out just because they said they didn't like perfume. I wouldn't be surprised if he left you behind and made his own journey."

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu spoke up in defense of Misty and Brock. But he stopped as Dragonite turned his slightly stern gaze down onto him and growled something in Pokémon language. So the mouse Pokémon lowered his gaze and nodded as he mumbled, "Pika..."

Beside Pikachu, Brock looked remorseful, and even Misty was starting to apparently consider Lance's words. A part of Ash wanted to gloat and say that he had gotten his way, but he felt disgusted for thinking that.

"As for you," Lance went on, turning back to Erika, "if I ever hear something like this ever again, I _will_ have the Indigo League Board of Directors revoke your gym leader status. That goes for Misty and Brock too; as fellow gym leaders, they knew it was against the rules for gym leaders to refuse a challenge, and they did not say anything about it. Sometimes the bystander is to blame if they see injustice done and do nothing about it." His gaze bore into hers as he asked, "So Erika...will you let Ash have his gym battle now?"

Erika looked down at the ground before looking up at him. When she did, however, she still looked a bit stubborn.

"I will battle him," she said. "But first, I need to hear Ash promise he will not insult my perfume in our battle. He will need to earn the badge. If I win, he has to make an apology in front of the entire city for making fun of the perfume." To Ash, she asked, "Is that fair?"

Ash was about to retort, but now was not the time to lose his control. His pride could not get in the way of trying to clear up this misunderstanding. With a deep breath, he said, "Yeah. Sounds fair. And I promise I won't say anything bad about your perfume," he added, hoping that she would believe him.

"And in return," Lance said, "if Ash wins, not only must you give him the badge, but you have to make an apology in front of the entire city for refusing a challenger just because he does not like what you like. Is _that_ fair?"

Erika nodded. "It sounds fair to me." To Ash, she said, "And I apologize for throwing you out of the gym. I didn't know you were allergic to my perfume."

"We're sorry too," Brock spoke up as Ash turned to him. "Lance is right. We should've done something instead of pushing you to the side. Right, Misty?" he asked, giving the Cerulean City gym leader a nudge.

Ash was expecting Misty to make some kind of retort, maybe saying that he needed to apologize more. Instead, she merely said, "I'm sorry too. I guess we shouldn't have jumped down your throat just because you didn't like perfume. If it's okay, can we still go with you after the gym battle?"

"Sure."

Lance nodded, and there was a hint of a smile on his face. "I'm glad this is over with," he said. Then he frowned as he said, "But I don't want anything like this to ever happen ever again. If I hear someone complaining about being banned from the gym, I WILL tell the Indigo League Board of Directors about it. See you all later." To Dragonite, he said, "Let's go, Dragonite. It's time I owed you that sandwich."

"Drago!" Dragonite bellowed happily, walking out of the building behind him.

 ** _The End_**

 **...**

 **Warrior Cat Cody: There you go, everyone! I hope you all liked it. As for how the battle will go, it'll be all up to you, but it will not be the one from the anime. I know that Ash didn't traditionally earn four of his Kanto badges the right way, so just imagine that Team Rocket doesn't appear in this episode and imagine that the fire doesn't start.**

 **By the way, if I got anything wrong or said something wrong here, please tell me. I'll listen to and appreciate constructive criticism as long as you're polite about it.**

 **See ya next time!**


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